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Our three cats is Maltese cats,
An' they's two that's white, -
An' bofe of 'em's deef - an' that's
'Cause their eyes ain't right. -


Uncle say that Huxley say
Eyes of white Maltese -...

All seemed delighted, though the elders more,
Of course, than were the children. - Thus, before
Much interchange of mirthful compliment,
The story-teller said his stories "went"...

Me an' Bert an' Minnie-Belle
Knows a joke, an' we won't tell!
No, we don't - 'cause we don't know
Why we got to laughin' so;
But we got to laughin' so,
"We ist kep' a-laughin'.
...

For you, I could forget the gay
Delirium of merriment,
And let my laughter die away
In endless silence of content.
I could forget, for your dear sake,
The utter emptiness and ache...

TO WILLIAM MORRIS PIERSON

[1868-1870]

Of the wealth of facts and fancies
That our memories may recall,
The old school-day romances
Are the dearest, after all! - ....

Friend of a wayward hour, you came
Like some good ghost, and went the same;
And I within the haunted place
Sit smiling on your vanished face,
And talking with - your name.
...

A troth, and a grief, and a blessing,
Disguised them and came this way,
And one was a promise, and one was a doubt,
And one was a rainy day.

And they met betimes with this maiden,...

For the sake of guilty conscience, and the heart that ticks the time
Of the clockworks of my nature, I desire to say that I'm
A weak and sinful creature, as regards my daily walk...

Say good-by er howdy-do -
What's the odds betwixt the two?
Comin' - goin', ev'ry day -
Best friends first to go away -
Grasp of hands you'd ruther hold
Than their weight in solid gold...

Go, Winter! Go thy ways! We want again
The twitter of the bluebird and the wren;
Leaves ever greener growing, and the shine
Of Summer's sun - not thine. -
...

"My grandfather Squeers," said The Raggedy Man,
As he solemnly lighted his pipe and began -

"The most indestructible man, for his years,
And the grandest on earth, was my grandfather Squeers!
...

Granny's come to our house,
And ho! My lawzy-daisy!
All the childern round the place
Is ist a-runnin' crazy!
Fetched a cake fer little Jake,
And fetched a pie fer Nanny,...

Sir Launcelot rode overthwart and endlong in a wide forest, and held no path but as wild adventure led him... And he returned and came again to his horse, and took off his saddle and his bridle, and let him pasture; and unlaced...

Ho! green fields and running brooks!
Knotted strings and fishing-hooks
Of the truant, stealing down
Weedy backways of the town.

Where the sunshine overlooks,
By green fields and running brooks,...

Pap's got his patent-right, and rich is all creation;
But where's the peace and comfort that we all had before?
Le's go a-visitin' back to Griggsby's Station -
Back where we ust to be so happy and so pore!
...

Fold the little waxen hands
Lightly. Let your warmest tears
Speak regrets, but never fears, -
Heaven understands!
Let the sad heart, o'er the tomb,
Lift again and burst in bloom...

I

Has she forgotten? On this very May
We were to meet here, with the birds and bees,
As on that Sabbath, underneath the trees
We strayed among the tombs, and stripped away...

Just drifting on together -
He and I -
As through the balmy weather
Of July
Drift two thistle-tufts imbedded
Each in each - by zephyrs wedded -
Touring upward, giddy-headed,
For the sky.
...

There was a curious quiet for a space
Directly following: and in the face
Of one rapt listener pulsed the flush and glow
Of the heat-lightning that pent passions throw...

I

He called her in from me and shut the door.
And she so loved the sunshine and the sky! -
She loved them even better yet than I
That ne'er knew dearth of them - my mother dead,...